Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has provided some very salient thoughts on wide receiver Rashee Rice.
Rice has been embroiled in a whole lot of controversy this offseason.
Back in late March, he was driving 119 mph and ended up causing a six-car accident. He then fled the scene and is facing some very serious charges as a result.
Then, earlier this month, Rice was accused of assaulting a photographer outside of a Dallas night club, although the photographer has since said he wants the charges dropped.
Rice’s status for the 2024 NFL season is certainly in question, but he has more important things to worry about right now.
Mahomes alluded to that when asked about Rice at organized team activities this week.
“I think it’s just trying to do whatever we can to teach him how to learn from his mistakes,” Mahomes said, via Courtney Cronin of ESPN. “I mean obviously that was a big mistake, but you have to learn from it, make sure it doesn’t happen again and try to do whatever you can to be the best person you can be in society, not only for yourself but for the people around you. And I think he is doing that, but right now we’re just going to keep trying to do whatever we can to get him on the right path so that he can be a great football player obviously, but we want to be a great person, too.”
It’s good to see that Mahomes is being sympathetic and understanding while also acknowledging that what Rice did was wrong.
Rice is getting set to enter his second NFL season, but he is facing a lengthy suspension from the league. There has been some speculation that he could be suspended for about half the year, but the NFL has not handed down any punishment just yet.
The 24-year-old, who played his collegiate football at Southern Methodist, was selected by the Chiefs in the second round of the NFL Draft last spring.
Rice enjoyed an impressive rookie campaign, hauling in 79 receptions for 938 yards and seven touchdowns. He also caught 26 passes for 262 yards and a score during Kansas City’s run to a Super Bowl in the playoffs.
The Philadelphia native was the Chiefs’ only truly reliable wide out in 2023. Kansas City did sign Marquise Brown in free agency, and it also drafted Xavier Worthy in the first round of the draft last month.
However, if Rashee Rice is sidelined for an extended period of time next season, the Chiefs might be back at square one as far as the receiver position is concerned.
Luckily, Kansas City has one of the best quarterbacks ever in Patrick Mahomes.
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